Governor Jack Markell's Weekly Message
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In his weekly message, Governor Jack Markell highlighted a grant awarded this week from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to improve Delaware’s healthcare system.
The $35 million grant will help to fund the State Health Care Innovation Plan, which will aim to save $1 billion through 2020. The improvements will focus on improving coordination of care between providers and supporting insurance carriers that offer high-quality, cost-efficient care.
Markell says a lot can be improved about healthcare services in the First State.
"Much about our current healthcare system is unsustainable," Markell said. "It’s unfair both to the people who use it and to those who care them."
Delawareans spend about $8 billion a year on healthcare. That’s 25 percent more per capita than the national average.
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message
Much about our current health care system is unsustainable. It's unfair both to the people who use it and to those who care for them. Despite tremendous strides to increase access to insurance and to develop better treatments, our health outcomes for many ailments rate below the national average.
Yet, Delawareans pay 25 percent more for care and health costs take close to 25 percent of our state budget. It's why I have committed to an innovative plan for a healthier state – developed by all parts of our health care community working together. And by winning a $35 million federal grant for our plan this week, we can now do the hard work of making this vision a reality.
It means paying doctors and hospitals for quality of care rather than quantity of procedures. We can’t accept when an effective heart clinic isn't financially sustainable because not enough patients make return visits – but that is the case in our state and that will change. We will invest in the technology to ensure all of a patients' doctors have access to the health information they need to provide the right care. We will launch a healthy neighborhoods program so communities can support healthier living practices, while increasing people's access to preventive screenings. We will establish a common scorecard that ensures doctors and nurses can learn from their colleagues' most effective practices. We’ll also train a health care workforce that will excel in our new system.
These will just a few of our initiatives. I encourage you to learn more on my website at governor dot Delaware dot gov. By providing Delawareans with the best care while reducing the unsustainable growth in health costs, we will keep Delaware moving forward.
